


my only sunshine

by shrugheadjonesthethird



Series: Tumblr Prompts [7]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Best Friends, Childhood Friends, Drabble, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Jughead Jones Loves Betty Cooper, Jughead sings to Betty, Short & Sweet, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, bughead - Freeform, she is his sunshine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-03 04:27:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16319150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shrugheadjonesthethird/pseuds/shrugheadjonesthethird
Summary: repost from tumblr:Jughead Jones remembers all the times she sings to Betty Cooper in their lives.





	my only sunshine

**Author's Note:**

> I saw a photo of a mug that said 'you are my sunshine' and the idea that Jughead has sang that song to her in his life popped into my head, and no one can take it from me now. I hope you enjoy this tiny little plot bunny.

_ My only sunshine. _

The first time Jughead could remember singing to Betty was when they were five years old. They were on their way back from school and she tripped over the uneven sidewalk and skinned her knee. 

It took a few moments for the tears to kick in, but he was sure that it wasn’t for the pain. He had seen Betty fall and get bumped around before. After all, she was always with him and Archie and at that age and she had a need to keep up. If they climbed, jumped, or raced-- so did she.

No, he was sure that the panic across her tiny emerald eyes was because she ripped her opaque pink stockings under her new dress she’d gotten specifically for picture day. He could hear her gasped words  _ my mom’s gonna be mad _ . Her voice was tiny and pained and he didn’t know what to do, so he did what his mom did for him.

He sang to her. He wasn’t sure why this particular song came to mind, he wasn’t sure his mother ever sang it to him or JB, but it was the first one that came to mind, so he went with it.

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray,” he sang into her ear as he helped her up from the sidewalk and dusted her off. 

She stopped crying once she was standing and squeezed his hand. 

“Thanks, Juggie.” Her smile lit up the sky. Maybe she was his sunshine.

\---

The second time they were older, in middle school. She had spent so much time studying for a social studies test on the different Native American tribes local to New York. She’d said them outloud, even created a mnemonic device to remember them. Jughead wouldn’t admit it to her, but that’s how he learned them, and still remembered years later who the local tribes were.

When it came for the test, her mind went blank. The device was gone, the information nowhere to be found. He could see it on her face, the disappointment in herself. She always thought she was letting everyone down when she wasn’t living up to the Cooper Standard; what she didn’t realize was that it was an  _ impossible _ standard. 

He sang to her again, this time, his arm slung over her shoulder as they walked through the halls to lunch. They’d been inseparable as long as either of them could remember, it wasn’t odd to be seen this close.

When Betty let a giggle slip from her lips as he sang to her, his heart clenched in his chest. He didn’t want to let her go; he never wanted her to think she was a disappointment, and he thought now that that went far beyond just being friends. He knew he loved her, but now he knew he  _ loved  _ her. 

\--

The first time she didn’t make the River Vixens, he sang again. 

They sat on the front steps of Riverdale High, her tucked into his side, trying to hide her face from the passersby that didn’t exist. 

“You are my--” Jughead began before getting interrupted.

“You know that song is actually really sad, right Jug?”

“Why do you think I only ever sing the happy part to you?”

Betty looked at him, searching his eyes for something that he wasn’t sure of.

“Besides, the song isn’t entirely wrong. If I didn’t have you in my life, it certainly wouldn’t be as wonderful. So, don’t take my sunshine away, okay?”

He nuzzled his nose against her cheek. It was right there, on the steps of Riverdale High that they shared their first kiss. It was sweet, romantic even. He let out a breath of relief as he cupped her cheek.

She’d forgotten all about not making the Vixens. All she remembered about that day was the way her heart fluttered in her chest the second before their lips joined together for the first time.

\--

There weren’t as many reasons to sing to her once they got older. Betty was strong, stronger than she even knew. She kept her cool in public, only letting herself crumble behind closed doors. Jughead was privy to them, though he hated it. He would cradle her in his lap and rub circles on her back, and he’d hum something new in her ear each time. 

It was always some kind of love song that Jughead never believed held weight, until the first time he kissed her. It sealed his fate. She was his sunshine, and he’d do anything to keep her warm and bright. 

He would keep the tradition and call her sunshine instead of singing to her, it seemed to do the trick. It would trigger the memory and she would smile, forgetting about the stupid thing her mother said, or the less than stellar public speaking presentation. 

She was his perpetual sunshine, and no one was taking that away.

\--

When they moved into their first apartment together, he had given her a gift. It was wrapped in newspaper and taped haphazardly, but he tried. 

It was yellow polka dots and boggle tiles: _you are my sunshine_.

Some of the tiles were crooked, but Jughead tried to make it perfect for her. She thought it was perfect with all its irregularities. They hung it in the hallway just next to the coat hooks; a daily reminder that no matter what, he loved her. 

\--

He called her sunshine in their wedding vows, insisted on including sunflowers in the ceremony and made sure it was everything she wanted. 

He dedicated his first book to her, the light of his life. 

He was always finding new ways to make her fall in love with him all over again.

When she told him she was pregnant, he cried. She had given him everything he never knew he needed in his life: friendship, hope, love, marriage, and now a child.

He knelt in front of her, his forehead pressed to her still flat stomach, and took a deep breath and he sang.


End file.
